Bitly's Free Plan: What You Actually Get

Bitly is the name most people reach for, and the free plan is where nearly everyone starts. It's worth knowing exactly where it stops before you build a workflow on it.

Figures below were taken from Bitly's published pricing page on 11 August 2026. Plans change — check their pricing page for current terms.

What the free plan includes

• 5 short links per month
• 2 QR codes per month
• 3 custom back-halves per month
• 2 custom landing pages
• Unlimited clicks and scans on links you've already made
• Basic click totals

The part that catches people out

The limits are monthly allowances, not a total balance. Five links a month is roughly one a week. For a personal profile that's fine. For anyone running campaigns — a link per placement, which is the whole point of tracking — you'll hit it in an afternoon.

The second thing worth understanding: existing links keep working and keep counting clicks. Hitting the monthly cap stops you creating new ones; it doesn't break what you've already shared. That's an important distinction and it's more generous than some alternatives.

Analytics depth

The free tier gives you click totals. The detailed breakdowns — the country, device and referrer reporting that tells you which channel worked — sit on paid tiers, and historical retention is limited on the entry paid plan.

This matters more than the link cap for most people. A total click count tells you something happened. It doesn't tell you whether Instagram or the newsletter delivered it, which is the question you're actually asking.

Custom back-halves

Three a month on free. Since a readable back-half is the difference between /spring-sale and seven random characters — and measurably affects whether people click — this is a real constraint if you share links publicly.

When Bitly free is the right choice

Genuinely: if you make a handful of links a month, want a recognised domain, and only need to know roughly how many people clicked, it does that well and the brand carries trust.

When you'll outgrow it

• You need more than about one link a week
• You want to know where clicks came from, not just how many
• You want a link per placement, which multiplies link count fast
• You need custom back-halves routinely rather than occasionally
• You want history beyond the retention window for year-on-year comparison

The bigger question than price

Whichever tool you pick, the decision that matters most is whose domain your links live on. Links are permanent — they end up in print, in other people's emails, in posts you can't edit. On a shared domain you're dependent on that company continuing to serve your redirects, and you inherit the reputation of everyone else using it.

That's covered in more depth in how to judge a free URL shortener, and it's the question worth answering before the pricing comparison.

LinkForge is free with no monthly link cap, full analytics, and unlimited custom back-halves.